The latest developments in engineering, as part of Progressive Engineer (www.ProgressiveEngineer.com), the online magazine and information source with a sustainability slant.

Monday, May 23, 2016

Bill Nye weighs in on the presidential election and climate change

Yahoo Anchor Alexis Christoforous recently sat down with science educator and author Bill Nye to talk about the ongoing debate over climate change and its global effect. Known for his TV show Bill Nye the Science Guy, Nye received his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell and started his career at Boeing in Seattle, where he developed a hydraulic pressure resonance suppressor for the 747. The pair discuss why this year’s election is crucial towards taking action on climate change, the West Virginia coal industry, and how the first United States “climate refugees” will be from Isle De Jean Charles, Louisiana, where rising oceans are forcing residents to relocate with government assistance.

· Why this election year is a tipping point to take action about climate change - “This year I believe is the tipping point. We can turn it around this year. If the United States were to elect someone as president, the most influential person in the world, that is in favor of doing something about climate change, they would do something about climate change.”

· Why Isle De Jean Charles, Louisiana will have the first “climate refugees” - “The reason people have to move off of De Jean Charles is that the ocean is getting bigger. When you make something as enormous as the earth’s ocean just that much warmer, it gets bigger. The coastal cities, which is where most of the world lives are going to get encroachment. New York City is no exception, we are going to have sea walls…and this is the developed world. New Orleans has all kind of flood pumping systems, but on that island, they don’t. It’s a suburb, so people are going to have to move.”

· The United States taking the first step towards acknowledging climate change - “If we are leaders, we will take that meeting. Let’s be out in front. It is a remarkable thing that 193 countries, including China and India, showed up in Paris after there was a terrorism attack, and they took a meeting. It’s a start.”